Earlier this year, when Tesla sued Top Gear for libel (allegedly committed way back in 2008), I argued that Tesla was likely to lose the case. And sure enough, The Guardian reports
Electric sports carmaker Tesla Motors has lost a major part of its high court libel claim against the BBC’s Top Gear programme, but is still suing the corporation for malicious falsehood over an episode that showed the company’s Roadster model running out of battery in a race.
Ruling at the high court in London on Wednesday, Mr Justice Tugendhat said that no Top Gear viewer would have reasonably compared the car’s performance on the show’s airfield track to its likely performance on a public road.
Judge Tugendhat ruled
In my judgment, the words complained of are wholly incapable of conveying any meaning at all to the effect that the claimant [Tesla] misled anyone.
This is because there is a contrast between the style of driving and the nature of the track as compared with the conditions on a public road […] are so great that no reasonable person could understand that the performance on the [Top Gear] track is capable of a direct comparison with a public road
Which is remarkably similar to the argument I forwarded earlier this year:
Since even Tesla has admitted that the first-gen Roadster wasn’t a track car, wouldn’t it have been even more misleading for Top Gear to depict it as a car that is capable of driving its entire claimed range in hot-lap driving?
Justice Tugendhat is expected to rule on the “malicious falsehood” complaint later this week, but don’t be surprised if it’s thrown out. And even if it isn’t, one wonders why Tesla went to all this trouble. Their claim in court is that the 2008 broadcast continues to impact their business because of its availability via download, DVD, and syndication. But really, that can’t be than the negative publicity generated by Tesla’s belated and highly-public attempt to sue the world’s most popular motoring show.
There is justice after all
Not for the US taxpayers that pay Tesla’s legal bills.
(# of people who love Top Gear) > (# of people who have ever heard of Tesla)
I’m glad to see there is sanity in the UK Courts. When the crap hit the fan about this lawsuit and both sides started positioning in the public, Top Gear’s position of what they said in the video was spot on.
Hurt’s their business? How? They don’t even sell the Roadster anymore.
They better hope the S model fares better than the Fisker Karma released today. With only 30 miles range on electric, about 20 MPG when running on gasoline, an EPA combined rating of just 52 MPG, and a $100K sticker price – it makes the Volt look like a screaming deal.
Hey Elon. Nobody cares. Shut up.
Go cash your government checks and be happy that your stupid company is still around, because if the true free market still existed Tesla would have been gone a long time ago.
*Thunderous Applause*
Hear! Hear!
And even if it isn’t, one wonders why Tesla went to all this trouble.
Publicity, my boy, publicity. That and Elon Musk’s ego.